Persona: Time Paradox
by Amatsu Kagaseo
Summary: The Trickter's Trial is over, but Akira is tasked with a new mission: Prevent the death of Messiah. (AU). Akira in P3.
1. Chapter 1

-Teaser-

* * *

(Theme song: Light in Starless Sky /Trailer ver/ from Movie #3)

"Oh, you are a transfer student like me too? Akira Kurusu, nice to meet you."

"…Minato Arisato, likewise."

…..

"Hmm, a gun eh. I wonder if I bring my own too…"

"Stop it, dude. You will scare the shit out of her at this rate."

…..

"That guy looks suspicious don't you think, Minato?"

"Don't care."

…..

 **Go on…Do it….**

"Per…so…NA!"

"He has one as well?!"

…..

 **Heed my call, Trickter!**

"DEMIURGE!"


	2. Chapter 2

Akira is a bit OOC and insane.

* * *

~Chapter 1~

"!" Akira's eyes widened as he shot up from his bed. Looking around, he found himself in the Velvet Room again.

"Ow, my head…" Akira felt a sharp pain in his head as he stood up and exited his jail. Outside, Igor and Lavenza were awaiting him with their gentle smiles. The short Assistant bowed at him before stepping aside to make way for him.

"Welcome back, my dear Trickster." She told him with a well-hidden loving tone. Akira smiled; she had confessed her feelings to him before his confrontation with Yaldabaoth and he had sorta returned it. He's fine with Lavenza though, but when he snapped out of his fantasy and looked at reality: she looked like a freaking child, for Christ's sake! She looked even younger than Futaba! He was in fear of being busted by the police when she expressed her desire to have a tour outside with him.

"H-Hey Lavenza, long time no see. You too, Igor." The old Owner of Velvet Room nodded at him. "Err, you doing alright?"

"Ufufu, thank you for your concern, Akira-kun." Lavenza giggled at him; having adapted to use Japanese honorifics. "I and Igor-sama are well. I believe you're the same?"

"Had some problems back home but other than that, I'm fine. But calling me here sure isn't for greeting and stuff right?"

Igor and Lavenza dropped their carefree attitudes at this as the latter walked to her Master and stood there solemnly. Igor rested his head on his hands, the sign of his being serious, and talked.

"I need you to stay calm and listen to me, Master Akira." Igor sighed. "We are in need of you again. A new ordeal has emerged and the world is in the brink of ruin."

Akira stood there, not moving an inch, and frowned.

"Within the next 48 hours, everything will disappear as the flow of time has been disrupted. As you can see…"

Igor explained the previous events that almost led to the world's destruction in the past and the culprits: Nyx (Erebus was the true one), Izanami-no-Okami and her associates.

"Thanks to you predecessors, they were stopped. But now, a malevolent entity has put everything in chaos by killing the Great Seal containing Nyx and the incarnation of Izanagi, thus letting the Goddesses to enact their plans. And due to its inferring to the flow of time, the world we are in begins to disappear and will be replaced by the wastelands caused by them."

Akira was barely restraining himself. His Persona, Satanael, agreed with him as a fracture of it materialized behind Akira. Igor was not surprised by this at all.

"…Can you identify who or what this bastard is?" Akira asked, or more like, demanded.

"Why yes, I believe this entity is called 'Mahakala', a close associate of Yaldabaoth." Igor answered him with sincere in his voice. Immediately, Akira's eyes were filled with hatred and fury. Why everything bad must relate that piece of shit of a God?! Satanael's low growl was enough to express its agreement.

"Have I informed you of Master Philemon?" Igor asked as he received a curl nod from Akira. "He and I have discussed and reached the solution: you must travel back in time. To be specific, you will be sent to April 7 in 2009, where everything begins."

Igor gestured to Lavenza as she showed him the Persona Compendium and a large box. "For some reasons, some of your Personas have disappeared from the Compendium and fortunately, major of them are still here. Your previous equipments and money are in here." She gave him the box. He opened it and smirked at the sight of his trusty dagger, gun and other equipments. He excused and went to his jail to put them on. Oddly, when he finished putting the helmet, armor, gauntlets and leg protection, they disappeared. He tested them by knocking his head. The sound of metal cladding confirmed that the equipments were just fading but not disappearing.

"Okay I am done."

Akira said as he returned to Igor and Lavenza, Paradise's Lost strapped to his waist and Tyrant Pistol on his coat. The residents of Velvet Room smiled at their Master's preparation; he was quick to adapt into situations like this.

"Alright, when will I go? I can't wait to blast that Mahakala bastard with Satanael." Akira said, a maniacal smirk on his face. Igor nodded solemnly as Lavenza guided Akira to the big door at the corner. He turned to her and showed her his charming grin.

"What? No parting gift?"

Lavenza blushed before pulling Akira closer and planted a passionate kiss on his lips. Akira's eyes widened but he gave in into the pleasure anyways. After a long moment, they separated.

"Heh, never thought you would pull such a stunt, Laven-chan."

"Ufufu, you did ask for this you know. Well, good luck out there and don't worry, I will follow you shortly."

"Yeah. See you later, Laven-chan, Igor."

Akira entered the door and waved at the two before the door disappeared.

* * *

Akira found himself in a moving train. He checked his belongings and found that he was in a strange uniform but other than that and his weapons were inside his bag, everything was the same. He looked around and saw a boy around Akira's age with blue hair and the same uniform as his. It seemed that the boy was unaware of his presence as he was listening to his headphones. Shrugging, he took out his phone and found out that the time was 11:50 pm of April 7, 2009. Akira looked up at the neon board and it showed that the destination was Iwatodai. Suddenly, a rush of knowledge flowed into his brain as Akira suffered a minor headache.

'Hmm, I am a transfer student from Tokyo and supposed to attend Gekkoukan High School and stay at Iwatodai Dormitory. This is interesting.'

Akira told himself. He took out the Persona Compendium and Lavenza was right: some of them were missing, namely Orpheus, Izanagi, Thanatos, Asteros, Messiah and other ones that had Picaro counterparts.

'Well, I can live without one or more personas right, Satanael?'

A humming from the Persona was the response. He looked at the boy and since they were going to attend the same school, it's not hurt to introduce each other, right?

"Hi there."

Akira said with his earnest smile. The boy turned off his music and turned to him with a bored look. Akira sweatdropped; what's with the dude?

"You're a transfer student like me too? Akira Kurusu, nice to meet you." Akira said while extending a hand to the boy.

"…Minato Arisato, likewise." Minato replied.

* * *

This is my second story. Please no flame and I appreciate constructive reviews. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Demiurge from Teaser is the traditional Shin Megami Tensei one, but I will give him a new appearance and a set of broken skills.

List of potentially new Personas:

Angra Mainyu (SMT If…. concept design), Ouroboros/Uroboros (general SMT design), Arsene Prime/Uber (in similar manner to Orpheus Telos). Vishnu (Persona 1 design).

* * *

~Chapter 2~

Akira was chatting with Minato about the latter's circumstances leading to his attending to Gekkoukan when a blackout occurred. The Phantom Thief initially dismissed as system malfunction until he saw multiple coffins and blood on the streets. Seeing a strange green light above, Akira looked up to see a greenish moon.

"What the hell?"

Akira turned to Minato, who was as dumbfounded as him but not showing anything other than slight surprised before continuing his way.

'It feels like I can summon Persona but this sensation… This is not Metaverse…' Akira raced his mind to think of a logical hypothesis for this but none came up. 'Tch, no more time to waste. I still need to get to this Iwatodai Dorm.'

And with that, Akira promptly followed Minato. Unknown to him, there was a shadowy figure on the tall building nearby observing him from the beginning, his/her appearance looking very familiar to Akira.

The duo saw a building with lights still functioning inside. Akira and Minato traded suspicious look before shrugging and heading to it anyway. The former grabbed his pistol from the bag just in case.

"…"

Minato grubbed nervously as he reached the doorknob. Turning to Akira, who nodded assuredly, he pulled it.

Akira let out a low whistle. The furniture looked neat with an old model TV and sofa. On his left was a counter and at the corner ahead was a bar of sort. He sighed in relief as he put the Tyrant Pistol back to his bag and turned to Minato, who was standing motionlessly.

"Dude?" Akira shook Minato's shoulder lightly but no response. "Earth to Minato Arisato! Dude!" He shook again and Minato snapped out of whatever kept him occupied.

"What?"

"Dude, you were standing like a statue and stuff. And – huh?"

Akira was interrupted by the sudden blackout in the lounge. Looked like someone switched them off.

"!"

There was a low yelp as a feminine figure emerged from the shadow ahead. The girl was panting as she reached an object on her waist; a gun of sort. Akira acted first by drawing his pistol and aiming at her.

"Eh?" Minato muttered at Akira. The Joker's eyes still fixed at the girl without blinking. His finger stayed put on the trigger as his composure sent a message 'Do it and you die first'. When tension seemed to reach its limit…

"Takeba, wait!"

The three people in the lounge turned to the source of that voice. Almost immediately, the lights were on and the song in Minato's MP3 played again. The atmosphere was a lot lighter at the moment.

"…Dude, I think you should lower your gun. Let's just be civil." Minato tapped Akira lightly and whispered. The Phantom Thief locked his eyes at the girl one last time before lowering his gun and sighing.

"Sorry for scaring ya. Just being cautious after all." Akira bowed at the girl while apologizing. She quickly dismissed it and said that it was her fault for starting it too.

…..

After the introductions, Mitsuru went to the main business. "At first, the transfer student was only Arisato. I only knew about you until yesterday so please excuse me for that, Kurusu."

"Ah it's nothing wrong, Senpai. People tend to forget about unimportant things." Akira snatched his neck and said. The Kirijo heiress nodded solemnly before noticing his Tyrant Pistol.

"Takeba and I only carry guns for self-defending. But why are you also having one too, Kurusu?"

This took Akira off guard. He hadn't thought of making up a reason for his bringing a dagger and a gun. Oh yeah, why hadn't he remembered that sooner!

"W-Well, mine is a real deal but it has no bullets. See for yourself." Akira unloaded the magazine and gave Mitsuru. True to his words, it was empty. She promptly handed it back to Akira.

"Very well. Takeba, take Arisato to his assigned room. Kurusu, you will stay here. I have some questions for you."

Akira's eyes slightly widened; it must be about his gun! He eyed Minato and sent a silent message 'I will be alright. You should rest' which the blue haired nodded and followed Yukari. Mitsuru gestured him to sit down.

"And now, Kurusu, we need to confirm few things." Her expression hardened. "…Are you a Persona User?"

Akira's composure stiffened at this. What?!

"I place many cameras outside the dormitory. You and Arisato were walking during the Dark Hour without troubles. Tell me, who exactly _are_ you?"

Akira's mind raced; he could not lie again. She knew of Persona users and earlier, he did sense an aura matching with that of a Persona. Was she a member of this 'SEES' group Igor had informed him? He had to confirm further.

"What if I am a Persona User? And this Dark Hour you are speaking of, is it relating with green sky, coffins and sea of blood outside?"

"…So you did notice. Alright, no point hiding it."

Mitsuru explained about the Dark Hour's nature and the definition of 'Persona User'. Looked like people who didn't transfigure into coffins had 'Potentials'. If guided properly, they could awaken their Personas and battle the Shadows. She even told him of the Shadow fighting club, or SEES as she put it.

'Hmm, interesting.'

"Long story short, you want me to join your little group 'SEES', correct? Well, my answer is No."

Mitsuru was taken apart by this. Before she could retort, Akira raised a hand to stop her.

"Your invitation is tempting, but unfortunately, I am the type that prefers working alone." Not exactly a lie, since he had a close bond with The Phantom Thieves of Heart, he could not abandon them to join another group. "Sure you can count me as a 'backup' member of sort but I don't like working with others, sorry for that."

"…I need a time to think. Until then, you can stay here. And please, do not tell this to anyone other than the people living in this dorm. Normal people should not be informed of this threat."

"That I can promise. If you don't have any further questions, I will head to my room. Have a good night, Senpai."

And with that, Akira went to the 2nd Floor with his luggage, leaving a deep in thought Mitsuru.

* * *

"Oh Takeba-san –"

"Yukari is fine, Akira-kun. Your room is at the end of the hall… What? You live in the same room with Minato-kun?"

"Uh really?"

Akira stared at her confusedly as the girl went downstairs to check again before coming up.

"That explained the 2-storey bed there. Well, like Senpai said, your arrival was not expected so we could not prepare another room for you so you have to stay with Minato-kun temporarily." Yukari said while sighing. "Hey, on your way to here, have you seen anything out of ordinary?"

"You mean green sky, coffins everywhere and blood on the streets? Pretty much." Akira answered nonchalantly. This earned him a long stare from Yukari as if he had grown two heads. "What? Mitsuru-senpai explained to me about it and this 'Dark Hour' earlier."

"Oh. Then have you decided about it? You know, SEES stuff?"

"Nah, I am not that kind of guy who likes working with others." Seeing Yukari's crestfallen face, he patted her head lightly, an attic he had grown doing back in Tokyo when a girl he knew was sad or something like that. She blushed immediately. "But I can still join some skirmishes with you guys though. Well, I'm really tired now so, excuse me. Good night, Yukari-san."

Akira waved at Yukari with a smile before entering his and Minato's room. The girl waved back timidly, mumbling something in her mouth before going upstairs.

* * *

Akira closed the door and took a good look at his new room. Minato was fast to sleep, and he didn't even bother to change his clothes. Not like Akira cared though, he was too tired as well. Carefully putting his bag on the table, he went to the sink to wash his face before going to sleep. When he looked at his reflections, he saw Satanael, well, a much smaller version of Satanael behind him.

 **I'm surprised that you didn't summon me earlier, Trickster.**

"I can't just change to Joker and make awesome pose with you right, Satanael?" Akira replied while grinning. His Ultimate Persona laughed curtly in return.

 **True, true. But what will do you from now, Trickster? Our presences in this timeline already caused a butterfly effect. We cannot risk inferring further.**

"Now you mention it." Akira rubbed the bridge of his nose and thought. "I guess I will keep a low profile from now. Damn…"

 **If you have any troubles, I and the rest of your Sea of Souls will gladly help you, Trickster**.

"Thanks a lot, Satanael."

* * *

Sorry for short chapters. I promise, only the few first chapters are only this short.


	4. Chapter 4

To be honest, all of my supposed mistakes in the last chapters were both intentional and accidental. Some might be explained in this and later chapters but some do need improvement. For people are wondering and about to ask:

Akira is no longer wearing his glasses as following the true ending, he does not need to hide his true nature anymore. And also yes, I do intend to change or at least add some scenes to the storyline and double also yes, the characters, including Akira himself, are ranging from little to clearly OOC.

* * *

~Chapter 3~

Akira heard the familiar tune as soon as he drifted into the realm of Hypnos. He smiled; it's good to be in Velvet Room again. He rose from the bed and walked outside of his cell toward the ever smiling Lavenza and kind Igor.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear guest." Igor spoke with his elderly voice. "I assume you have made acquainted with him?"

"You mean Minato? Yeah I did. He still does not awaken his Persona, but he is aware of the phenomenon that you called 'Dark Hour' and seems to either adapt to it well or just ignore it. He has huge potential." Akira expressed his early analysis of Minato, earning a nod from the Master of Velvet Room. But then Akira narrowed his gaze.

"Igor, you and your master do understand my hesitation, don't you? The butterfly effect, that is."

Igor nodded solemnly at the statement. He had anticipated this from the beginning. The elder man gestured Akira to take a seat before folding his hands.

"We sent you to the past, yes, but we also isolate this timeline from the mainstream without Mahakala knowing until you defeat him or his underlings sent to kill the Messiah. But beware, it is only due time that the god will be aware of this. I advise you to keep a close eye on the boy, not helping him directly of course, to make sure everything is the same or at least similar to what had happened. You may receive visions before you do anything that can alter the course of time but it is entirely your decision whether to act or not. Remember, my guest, the fate of this world is in your hand. Do not allow Mahakala to kill the Messiah."

Lavenza gave him the Velvet Key, but before he asked that he had already had one, Akira noticed that the key was crimson, his favorite color, and had some patterns that really reminded him of Arsene, his very first Persona. The attendant beamed upon his gaze, knowing well what he was going to say.

"As I have my duty of assisting the Messiah, I decided to make a separate door to avoid confusion. You still can use the old one for the door at the back alley of a place called Paulownia Mall. You may run into him or my other assistant, who is Lavenza's sister. That's all I want to say." Igor waved his hand as everything around Akira became brighter. "Time passed as we discussed. You have your own matters in the real world as well. Farewell and stay strong."

Akira nodded before his vision faded.

* * *

Minato had a dreamless night, yes, but for some reasons, there was a voice in his head, screaming about 'Satan saving Christmas'.

* * *

-Next day-

Yukari went to the new members' room, intending to make acquainted with them further by showing them her school. Last night, aside from the misunderstanding between her and the fizzy haired teen, what made she so scared was a gigantic silhouette that was leveling its own gun, no, _cannon_ toward her as well. She could deal with burglars using her Io, overkill as it sounded, but against a monstrous thing like that? Not in million years, especially how inexperienced she was at the moment.

Inhaling, Yukari brought her hand to the door and knocked. No answer. Sighing, Yukari knocked again and this time, someone opened. It was Minato, already in student uniform with bag and stuff, behind him was a half-sleepy Akira busy fixing his hair and clothes, which was rare since he always got up early for school back then. Well, to be fair, he hadn't gotten used to this timeline.

"Oh, Takeba-san, what are you doing here?" Minato politely asked, getting Yukari's attention.

* * *

-Skip towards Gekkoukan-

Akira admitted, this place lived up its name as a prestigious school. The schoolyard was huge, the buildings were exotic and stuff but all of that could not sway his mind from Shujin. Sure, it was almost a shitty place but thanks to that shitty school, he had gained a lot of friends and allies alike. Those bonds, to him, were impossible to replace.

'Well, might wake around to get familiar then.'

Excusing himself from Minato and Yukari, Akira decided to take a stroll. Things seemed pretty normal and peaceful from a group of junkies running around the field, a male student painting a large oak tree in the courtyard, a teacher with a…samurai helmet? conversing with a foreign student. He was walking near the faculty office when he saw a boy with blue short hair in matching blue shirts, cap and yellow ties. He seemed to be a faculty member's son since he looked so young. Not leaving a confused kid in this place, Akira decided to act.

"Hey little guy, are you lost?" He gently asked, using his maxed Kindness to its fullness. The boy in question startled and turned to him before gasping in shock.

"Y-Y-You are?!" He took a step back, trembling. Akira raised his eyebrow and advanced with good intention. He flinched at the sight of tears rolling down on the boy's face before he launched himself into Akira with a big hug.

"W-Woah there, you alright there?!" Akira asked a bit loudly. Maybe the kid did get lost and was glad to see someone asking? Nah, he internally dismissed. The boy kept hugging him until Akira noticed that the duo had attracted a lot of stares.

"H-Hey, I don't like breaking your mood but people are staring. Let's go somewhere quiet, okay? Should be about 15 minutes until the opening ceremony." Akira suggested while mumbling the last part. The boy nodded as the larger teen led him to the courtyard.

* * *

Akira sat on the stone bench across the boy, the former staring at the latter in awkward silence. The latter kept stiffing nonstop which made Joker even more nervous. What did I do? He asked himself that. Muttering courage, Akira spoke up.

"Well, um, what was that earlier? I mean, why did you go all teary on me like that?"

"D-Don't you recognize me, Ichirou Nii-san? It's me, Naoto!" The boy finally spoke, but what he said shocked Akira. Wait what?

'There must be some sort of misunderstanding, cuz how the heck am I having a _sibling_ in the past?! Not to mention, I don't have any from beginning with!'

"U-U-Uhhhh, Naoto isn't it, you must be mistaking me to someone else as my name is Akira Kurusu, not Ichirou."

Naoto looked mortified but then calmed down after taking multiple breaths. Despite displaying a perfectly poker face, Akira was super worried inside. Butterfly effect already, now time paradox? What would his existence bring next?

"It must be amnesia, it has to be." The boy said to himself but loud enough for Akira to hear. "Don't worry Nii-san, now I have found you, I will make sure to help you restore your memories. I swear in the name of Shirogane House!"

That nailed it. He had to kill this fucking God so that all of this could be fixed and he could return to his own time again. Akira's eyes darkened at the thought of facing something like Yaldabaoth again, his body leaking killing intent so potent that Satanael nearly materialized in the real world. Luckily, the Persona alerted him in time to control his rage.

'That was close! But how? The Dark Hour was one thing, now I can summon Persona in real world too?! What the hell is going on?'

"Um, Nii-san, you looked so scary just a moment ago. Did I say something upset you?" Naoto asked worriedly, his voice sounded even more feminine that Akira started doubting his sex. Wait, was that he or she? Akira took a long inhale and then released it to calm his mind down, though it did little to the turmoil. He muttered the best smile he could do right now to Naoto.

"Ah, I probably remember something unpleasant. Not you, of course."

He went to Naoto's side and patted his head gently. "You are right, I don't have any memories prior my 10th birthday. Must be amnesia, right?" He lied. Naoto's mood brightened up clearly. "I can trust you with helping me find what had been lost, right little bro?"

"Um, Nii-san, actually I am a g-"

The school bell interrupted his sentence, which made Naoto pout, a trait which in turn enforced Akira's hypothesis of his supposed younger 'brother' was 'sister'. But time's up, and he hadn't checked his class yet!

"Ah, it's time for the ceremony. Yakushiji-san is going to pick me up. Um Nii-san, can I ask for your number? I'd like to meet you again."

"Oh, of course." Akira and Naoto exchanged phone numbers. "Feel free to call me. I live in Iwatodai Dormitory by the way. Well, I'm almost late now. Stay safe okay?"

Akira waved at his younger sibling and walked away. After making sure that Naoto was out of sight, he dropped the whole acting and replaced it with a deep scowl. He hated deceiving to kids but what could he have done back then? In addition, he was a good actor so…

* * *

-Timeskip, After School-

After reuniting with Minato and Yukari with Akira having to skip the opening ceremony since, well, he arrived late and wasn't allowed to enter the hall, they went to their class. Akira had to apologize to his homeroom teacher for not showing at the faculty office to receive his class, forcing her to find him herself. Worse, he was scolded in front of the class with Yukari snickering and Minato slightly twitching his lips.

"So much for first day at school…" Akira mumbled in his seat, defeated. A soft buzz from his pocket snapped him from his sleepiness as he checked his phone. It was Naoto. He was asking for Akira's first impression in class and his well being etc. The former mentioned that their grandfather sent his regards to Akira and then ended the message with 'I love you Nii-san'.

'Sounds too emotional for a boy, eh?' Akira smiled lightly. Judging from Naoto's outburst of emotion earlier, she must love her brother Ichirou a lot, who happened to be Akira. In his head, the Leader of Phantom Thieves began to list possible theories about his situation. Igor did confirm that this period of timeline had been separated from the time flow and remained isolated until Akira defeated the perpetrator so yeah, he time-travelled. Another one was about his status as brother to Naoto Shirogane. Akira thought of a normal time paradox situation with him being Akira Shirogane but when he recalled Naoto calling him Ichirou, not Akira, he thought of worse scenario: he was possessing the body of Ichirou Shirogane. If the latter was correct, then he was in a deep trouble.

'Amnesia is a better option though, since I basically inhabit someone who happens to look like me against his will.'

 **Stay calm, Trickster. There are too many theories and hypothesizes, I suggest leaving them be until we reach the Prison. Don't you feel it, Trickster? That your essence has been modified, either intentionally by the Masters of Prison or accidentally by travelling to the past.**

Satanael spoke in his head. Akira blinked but then closed his eyes and smirked lightly; Satanael was always the one to sooth his mind when needed.

 **Though I have a feeling that neither the two above is the cause. Remember, that god Mahakala is the mastermind after the collapse of future so there should be a possibility that he caused your change. But no matter, we shall punish any gods that play naughty, as the feline once said.**

Akira laughed internally at the mention of Morgana. Ah the mascot of his team, the one guiding him into the path of rebellion unlike Yaldabaoth. He still hated the cat for _those_ times though. Fucking cat literally banned him from going out at night…

"Hey Kurusu-san, you alright there? I hope Toriumi-sensei wasn't too hard on you." Yukari said after tapping his shoulders few times. His seat was beside the windows, his favorite spot. To the right of Akira was Minato talking with a fellow classmate with a baseball cap. Judging from the former's tired face and the latter's dragging on tone, Akira decided to do something. He stood up and walked to Minato, who sent a 'thank you' look to him. The capped teen noticed the other transfer student and immediately put his grin back on.

"Heeeey there, new guy number 2! Heard you and Minato here going to school along with Yukaricchi this morning. You guys are the talk in this school right now!"

"…First, I don't find any reasons for that matter at all. And second, who are you?" Akira asked with a deadpanned face. The man in question made a double take at how cold Akira was before coughing.

"The name's Junpei Iori. But hey, you have to feel proud of walking beside one of the most popular chicks in Gekkoukan you know! The rumors are that many Yukaricchi's fanclubs are gunning for you!"

Junpei said with an excited tone. Akira blinked, looked at Minato who shrugged and then sighed. Well, to be honest, he found Yukari quite cute so this kind of reaction was within expectation. He did get a lot of unwanted rumors back in Shujin for chatting with Ann, Makoto, Haru or even his own teacher.

"That would be inappropriate. Me and Minato here owned her a favor after all, isn't that right, Minato?"

Minato quickly nodded, much to Junpei's further curiosity.

"What favor? C'mon, give me the dirt!"

At this point, Yukari had had enough. She landed a hard slap on the teen's head to shut his mouth. Junpei then spent the next fifteen minutes being scolded by the brunette for 'butting into people's business too much'.

"Well, now he and I got the same treatment today." He yawned. "Let's go home, I'm really sleepy now."

"Couldn't agree more."

They left the bickering duo behind and exited the classroom. On their way back to Iwatodai, Akira discussed with Minato about their respective background and other stuff. It was then he discovered that the soon-to-be Messiah had had a sister but she along with his parents had long died in the incident at the Moonlight Bridge 10 years ago and he had been in and out from relatives over and over again until this month. Poor guy, Akira thought.

"What about you? Junpei said this morning your brother came to school to see you. I remember you said that you were the only child." Minato inquired. Akira briefly narrowed his eyes; that loud mouth…

"Apparently, I was involved in an accident some time ago and got amnesia as the result. Naoto, my sis –err brother recently heard news of someone looking like me entering Gekkoukan and, well, you already know the rest." Akira told Minato a quickly-made fabricated story. Again, this left a bad taste in his mouth as he again had to lie. Irony for someone who had defeated the God of Lies and Darkness.

"You got caught in an incident too, huh." Minato said, his tone out of character which was sympathetic. He raised a fist to Akira. "So, bros?"

Akira blinked in confusion but then shook his head, finding this kid even more interesting.

"Yeah, bros." He reciprocated the act.

When they reached the Port Island Station, Junpei's voice could be heard from behind.

"Waaaaaaait uuuuuuup!" The teen finally caught up with the duo and was almost out of breath. Out of pity, Akira gave him his water bottle with a chuckle. Junpei chucked the whole bottle down on his throat and let out a satisfied breath.

"Daaamn, that was so good. Hey, why did you leave me behind with Yukaricchi?! She tortured me for a good thirty minutes, dammit! My ears weren't so hurt until this day."

"Your fault for provoking her, duh." Minato nonchalantly replied, prompting Junpei to relent. Akira watched the scene with mild interest as he was busy with the earlier revelation.

'Strange, I did ask Igor for the full information about Minato but there was no mention of him having a sibling. What's going on? Did my arrival cause a massive time paradox? Or maybe these are Mahakala's doings? Too many questions…Yeah yeah I know, you don't have to remind me, Satanael.'

 **Good, since I don't like being annoyed with those thoughts of yours in here.**

'Hey that's cold!'

Satanael let out a laugh before fading again into the Sea of Souls.

* * *

After taking the train back to Iwatodai and saying goodbye to Junpei, the duo arrived at the dorm. Mitsuru was reading in the lounge when they entered the building.

"Welcome back, you two." She greeted them. Minato nodded before heading the stairs, Akira was about to follow when Mitsuru addressed him. "Kurusu, I want to resume what was left last night. Are you free?"

Akira raised an eyebrow before taking a seat opposite to the Kirijo. She presented to him a briefcase and opened it. Inside was a silver pistol with 'S.E.E.S' engraved on the side body. It took him few seconds to figure out her intention and it seemed she knew it as well.

"Kurusu, while I don't agree with your conditions, we SEES still welcome you as our newest member. Please accept this Evoker."

"Evoker…From its name, I assume it is the device to summon Personas?" Akira asked. Mitsuru nodded until she realized the last part.

"What do you mean by Persona **s**?"

"You don't know? There are few people that can summon multiple Personas, like I do. In fact, there are other ways to invoke them, not just using a conductor like this Evoker." Akira explained as if it was a matter of fact. To him, at least, but to Mitsuru was a whole new revelation. The Kirijo Group and extension, the Nanjo Group, had been experimenting thorough the years up to now but other than Kei Nanjo himself, no one could summon a Persona without external means like the Evoker. She must inquire more about this.

"Do you have proof of what you said? Summoning a Persona without the Evoker, I mean."

"Ah, you have to wait for the Dark Hour. Though in my experience, you can bring out a portion of your Persona or use their abilities in the real world, though very subtle it will be. That's the reason last night, you can sense Satanael as he always materializes in some ways alongside me. You too, I can sense yours as well. A hybrid of support and offensive Persona, it seems."

Mitsuru widened her eyes at this information. But in other hand, she did suspect this in the recent years, for an instance, that one accident with Akihiko stepping in her room while she was changing and Mitsuru froze him on the spot with the help of Penthesilea. She must report to the Chairman about this.

Akira analyzed her expressions from the beginning and to be frankly, he had just discovered the second one lately. Back in his original timeline, Morgana stated that Personas could not materialize out the Metaverse, true, but with his coming to this timeline, everything just fell apart. From Yukari seeing Satanael after the Dark Hour passed, Mitsuru sensing the Demon Lord, Akira almost summoning him in front of Naoto earlier in the day with his sheer rage. After an hour of discussing about the matters of SEES, Shadows and Dark Hour, Akira excused himself but without accepting to join the group 'temporarily'. Mitsuru reluctantly accepted that.

"Talking with you was entertaining, Kurusu. I'd like to continue this later."

"Heh, likewise senpai."

* * *

Please R&R!


End file.
